It provides enough money for Saudi Arabia to build a city three times the size of Manhattan from scratch. It gives Hugo Chavez the leverage he needs to defy the United States, and it makes life more difficult for a taxi driver in Beijing.
How the price of oil creates dramatic shifts in wealth and power around the world is remarkable. This article by Steven Mufson for the Washington Post is a good read, and discusses the impact from the pump and beyond.
Appropriate for the coming holiday season - this from the Harper's Index:
Estimated amount that Americans lose every year by not redeeming gift
cards: $8,000,000,000
There is evidence in the urban areas of China that American and European style of living is much sought after. The above photo is a typical home in a development on the outskirts of Shanghai. Other nearby styles include English Tudor and French.
The most obvious case I saw was in a strange development many miles outside of Beijing. Set in a rural farming area, a gated multi-floor apartment building called American Villa was advertised with wood carved graphics usually seen in America's national parks and forests. I guess not so different from a Polynesian style home you might see in Southern California.
Woman sneezes in crowded store. Influenza
Small boy coughs on train. SARS
Man vomiting outside Peking Duck Restaurant. Bird Flu!
Paris Hilton in Shanghai nightclub. STD
Shanghai.
In this city of explosive growth, glimmering night life, and towering skyscrapers - best carry your own toilet paper - it's unavailable in many bathrooms.
Beijing.
Many Americans think that the Chinese are bad drivers, and I know now that they are good drivers.
There is a noteworthy harmony among the thousands of autos and bicycles in this congested city. Cars and cycles come within harrowing inches of each other, and move seamlessly through the streets. This high wire act is completed with no visible hostility or anger.
I have seen much more tension between drivers and cyclists in the U.S. Once, while in New York City, I saw a cyclist beat the side of a bus with a chain because he felt he had been encroached upon. Cars and scooters in Beijing proceed at a slow controlled pace and move around the same way bicycles do - weaving and slipping through every potential opening.
Many vehicles are without seat belts...I have heard because "these cars don't go fast enough to require seat belts"
It is extraordinary to watch the controlled chaos on the streets of the crowded city. Crossing guards at corners keep strict control and conduct the streets like a symphony, and somehow everyone gets to where they're going.
Based in Beijing, painter Yue Minjun, is a Chinese artist who is garnering international attention. His unique work is often depictions of himself locked in large toothy laughter. Look at a selection of his work here. As a whole, they are exhilarating to view.
Beijing.
First impressions. Incredibly crowded with Chinese people. Apparently, when it's night time back home, it's friggin' day time here! Which finally confirms for me the theory that if you dig a hole somewhere in America, and you keep digging, you end up here. More to come.
In the coming weeks, cellophane66 will be posting from Beijing and Shanghai, China. Impressions, photos, and films to follow.
But, for now, here's a sweet little video from M. Ward called Chinese Translation:
There was a great piece linked to at (yesterday's mentioned) Freelance Herald earlier this week that is worth a read. Written by Marc Andreessen, it's an insightful piece about how Hollywood may soon begin to function more like Silicon Valley - and how the writer's strike may accelerate the process. Full article here.
Fellow blogger and freelance professional Louis Lesko has launched The Freelance Herald recently - an excellent news source focusing on the world of creative freelancing. Check it out.
Here is a cool interactive site where you can explore the details of Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper". Zoom as you please.
There is a great site I visit periodically to see what noteworthy outfits people are wearing on the streets of Helsinki. The variety is quite sweeping, and the subjects of the photos describe their styles. Interestingly, "Los Angeles in the 80's" and the band Hanoi Rocks are still wielding influence like this:
See the full gamut at Hel Looks.
I already drink the stuff, but if I didn't, this ad would make me give it a try. Shot over a week in a remote village in Argentina, it's quite a symphony. Read about it and watch it here via the Telegraph.
This post over at Fogonazos shows how scientists are preparing for extended stays on Mars. It all seems so "Planet Of The Apes".
The site over at Magnum Photos has an interesting feature where you can view the works of photographers while they narrate the picture's stories. This one by Thomas Dworzak about Taliban men is worth a view. I never knew they were so ...feminine.
As a follow-up to yesterday's post, here is a bit of motorsport history. The parabolica turn at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza was abandoned in 1961 due to safety concerns. But here is a short video taken at the world famous circuit in Italy that gives you a sense of it:
And a good still shot of it here.
Races are still held there today, but the course has been changed.
Posts
All Comments
